The invention relates to a washing nozzle and, more particularly, to a washing nozzle for use in washing or cleaning systems on vehicles for cleaning vehicle windows, in particular front windows or windscreens, headlamps, rear lights and/or cameras.
Within the context of the invention, a washing nozzle is therefore in particular a nozzle for applying the liquid cleaning or washing medium to an area of the vehicle which is to be cleaned, that is to say for example to vehicle windows, in particular front windows or windscreens, headlamps, rear lights and/or cameras. Within the context of the invention, the liquid cleaning or washing medium is in particular water, preferably with active washing additives and/or frost protection agents.
Within the context of the invention, a punctiform nozzle jet is a nozzle jet having a cross section which remains constant or essentially constant, that is to say a nozzle jet which does not diverge or diverges only slightly. Within the context of the invention, a flat or fan-shaped nozzle jet is in particular a nozzle jet which has a rectangular cross section at least when it strikes the surface to be cleaned and which, starting from the washing nozzle or nozzle opening, increasingly widens in an axis which runs perpendicular to the jet axis.
Washing nozzles for use on vehicles, in particular road vehicles, for applying a liquid cleaning or washing medium are known in various designs. For example, windscreen washing nozzles are known (WO 00/12361) which consist of a nozzle body with a line for supplying the cleaning or washing medium and with a plate-shaped nozzle chip or insert arranged in a recess of the nozzle body, said insert being accommodated in a form-fitting manner in the recess of the nozzle body and being provided on one side of its surface with a number of channel grooves which, when the insert is mounted in the nozzle body, form nozzle channels which are connected to the supply channel and which each form a nozzle opening, namely for generating a number of diverging jets of the liquid cleaning or washing medium.
Also known are windscreen washing nozzles (DE 44 22 590 A1) for generating a fan-shaped or flat nozzle jet, comprising a nozzle body in which a supply channel for the liquid cleaning or washing medium is formed, which merges via a narrowing into a nozzle channel or expansion chamber which expands in terms of its width in the flow direction and ends in an essentially slot-shaped nozzle opening.
It is also known (DE 1 205 404) to deflect an essentially punctiform nozzle jet emerging from a single nozzle opening by means of a deflection plate provided outside the washing nozzle and thus to deform said jet such that the cleaning medium is distributed as widely as possible over the surface to be cleaned, that is to say the windscreen.
Known nozzles in principle have the disadvantage that the jet form and/or jet type, in particular including the droplet size and the speed thereof in the emerging nozzle jet, are not sufficient for an optimal cleaning or wiping effect, and/or the volume stream and thus the consumption of liquid cleaning medium is too great in comparison to the effect achieved.